Part 2 of 2 - I couldn't wait. The suspense was killing me!
“Turn to a heading of 329 degrees” Tom says. I reply with “Roger, 329”. We are on our way. The defining terrain of the Yakima Valley makes navigating much easier than the flat land of Northern New York where we just came from not two weeks earlier. The GPS indicates 15 minutes until our arrival at the accident scene. I scan over the gauges and verify that all of the helicopters systems are operating normally. System failures are rare but I feel it is prudent to monitor them anyway. Two minutes until arrival and Tom informs the crew. Rett and Rex prepare the cargo compartment for the landing. The winds are out of the Southeast so I setup an approach path into the wind. The landing area is tight. There are several tall ponderosa pine trees on all sides of the landing zone. We will have to land nearly straight down. I slow the aircraft to thirty knots and begin a decent that should keep us clear of the obstacles. We are now twenty feet above the clearing and Rex reports that there is a dust cloud forming below us. This spring has been really dry and the loose soil below us is being kicked up by our rotor wash. Ten feet and the dust cloud envelopes the helicopter. Tom reports a visibility of ten feet. Not good. I am able to see well enough to bring the bird to a low two foot hover. “Looks like a pretty good left skid high slope. Keep the tail and blades clear”, I demand. I hear “Clear down left”, from Rett and “Clear down right” from Rex a split second later. This crew works like a well oiled machine. I slowly lower the collective and let the left skid touch down first. Now I am performing a balancing act with a 1.5 million dollar, top heavy gyroscope. Slowly, the right skid touches down. I bring the engine to idle and clear Rex and Rett out of the helicopter.
Rockcrawling is the sport of driving your Jeep over some tough, rocky terrain. Sometimes the driver overestimates his skill and/or his Jeeps capability. This was the case today. Thirty minutes ago a highly modified Jeep was driving on a cross slope, tipped over and rolled about 100 feet down a steep hill. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but Mr. Cool wasn’t wearing a helmet like most drivers do. Was he showing off for one of the babes on the sidelines? Who knows why people do stupid things. Regardless, Mr. Cool was now sporting a humpty dumpty head. Seriously, he was all white with some yolk running out of his smashed nose. Rett to the rescue. Rett the medic strapped Humpty to a flat, hard plastic, spine board and with the help of some worried spectators, hauled him onboard.
Yakima Regional Hospital is a twenty minute flight by Huey from the site of the accident. Probably close to a two hour drive by ground. The patient remained stable and semi-conscious for the flight back to Yakima. The ER team at Yakima was expecting us and had a stretcher waiting when we arrived.
The flight back to Vagabond Army Air Field took less than ten minutes and was uneventful. As to the condition of Mr. Cool, I can only say that he will most likely live to drive again.
--Some of the names and events have been changed to protect the innocent.-- :P
Rockcrawling is the sport of driving your Jeep over some tough, rocky terrain. Sometimes the driver overestimates his skill and/or his Jeeps capability. This was the case today. Thirty minutes ago a highly modified Jeep was driving on a cross slope, tipped over and rolled about 100 feet down a steep hill. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem but Mr. Cool wasn’t wearing a helmet like most drivers do. Was he showing off for one of the babes on the sidelines? Who knows why people do stupid things. Regardless, Mr. Cool was now sporting a humpty dumpty head. Seriously, he was all white with some yolk running out of his smashed nose. Rett to the rescue. Rett the medic strapped Humpty to a flat, hard plastic, spine board and with the help of some worried spectators, hauled him onboard.
Yakima Regional Hospital is a twenty minute flight by Huey from the site of the accident. Probably close to a two hour drive by ground. The patient remained stable and semi-conscious for the flight back to Yakima. The ER team at Yakima was expecting us and had a stretcher waiting when we arrived.
The flight back to Vagabond Army Air Field took less than ten minutes and was uneventful. As to the condition of Mr. Cool, I can only say that he will most likely live to drive again.
--Some of the names and events have been changed to protect the innocent.-- :P